//------------------------------//
// The Moment Of Departure 
// Story: The Olden World 
// by Czar_Yoshi 
//------------------------------//

Starlight, Maple and Valey stood in a covered dock building next to where the Immortal Dream was being repaired, this berth instead being used to restock and outfit the Arc Manta.

"You don't have to wait here, you know," Ebb said, walking past with a crate on his back. "It's going to be a few hours before they're ready. The sun isn't even up yet!"

"Doesn't stop you from being up too." Valey shrugged. "And if we're really setting off at dawn, doesn't hurt to be low on sleep so we can sleep on the way there."

Ebb shook his head with pity and mirth. "Oh, if you guys are making survival plans for the first few hours, I think you're missing the point of a two-week trip."

Maple smiled sadly. "We're very familiar with long trips, actually. I think we'll make it okay."

Ebb glanced at Starlight. "Well, okay. It's not going to be a fun outing for kids, though."

"I'm not here to have fun." Starlight met his eyes. "I'm here to get to where we're going."

"Hey, Ebb! Move your flanks!" A mare who was carrying twice as much as he was staggered by, making him jump and hurry along.

Valey nodded at nothing, surveying the ship and the rigging it was attached to as it refueled. "Well... last chance to chicken out. We really wanna go see this place?"

"Yes." Starlight felt the weight of her saddlebags, filled with everything she didn't trust leaving behind... her sword the shard from Chauncey, the remains of the moon glass sword that held every sarosian soul in the Empire.

Valey was decked out with luggage too, wielding a pair of suitcases and her signature hat. One of them, Starlight hadn't seen before, and Valey wouldn't say what was in it... It was probably full of fruit. The other, she did recognize: it was Amber's suitcase, the one used to transport the windigo hearts.

"Is it really a good idea to bring those along?" Maple glanced down at the thing, her own pair of saddlebags sitting to the side to avoid bumping her still-sore ribs.

"Yeah..." Valey shrugged. "The professors were seriously ticked when I told them just how much harmony stuff we could potentially have on our ship, so they said if we were taking a vacation out here with all of us along anyway, we might as well take them with us too and see if they couldn't isolate whatever few sources we leave behind on this island. Besides, it turns out the case the yaks packed them in is actually resistant to whatever kind of latent effect they have. Who knew?"

Maple sighed. "Some days, I really wonder what would have happened if we went to Yakyakistan instead of the Empire after Ironridge..."

"Knowing our luck?" Valey adjusted her hat. "That glacier would be either a crater or a lake. Maybe both."

"I hope you're not serious." Maple looked away. "We're probably going to fill them up if we can, too?"

"Yeah." Valey nodded. "Modified this thing to have room for all five instead of just four. Sparky's got some kids helping with the Dream, and whether they get it to fly again or not, it's not gonna do it without a power source. I figure after Celestia clears us to hang out here longer, we're gonna want a way to get around."

Maple nodded. "Mmm..."

Valey lowered her voice. "Especially if we're gonna find that bit of land Garsheeva gave you. You know the one..."

"With another crystal palace?" Maple whispered back. "It really might be time to think about that future, won't it? Building a town there for all of us to live together?"

"Yeah." Valey looked back at the submarine. "Just as soon as we've brought back this impostor, kicked her butt and taken care of this bad future business."

"Right." Maple's face was stern, but slowly relaxed. "So what else did you pack? I didn't think you needed much other than food and friends to stay happy."

"What, this?" Valey nudged the suitcase. "Eh, it's a backup plan in case stuff goes wrong. Don't mess with it, it's seriously heavy. Probably not gonna need it, but you never know."

Now Starlight was curious. "A backup? What is it?"

"Some stuff from the ship." Valey shrugged. "Not too important. And it's also kinds busted. I'll have the next two weeks on my hooves, so I can help Sparky's effort out a bit by trying to fix it."

Starlight mentally noted that it was Jamjars' effort, imagining the filly's chagrin that she wasn't even getting credit. This would certainly be a much different voyage if Jamjars was along...

"Hey, not to change the subject," Valey interrupted, breaking her train of thought, "but are you really okay with being on voice call for... you know..." She flipped the sound stone and caught it in a wing. "Princess Celestia?"

Maple's ears fell. "Right. I can't imagine it'll take her more than two more weeks to get back here. Not after how long we took reaching this island in the first place."

Valey nodded. "Yeah... I've talked with the guards, and while they're not thrilled that we're bailing like this, them and the professors are in on the same story that the university commandeered us for research they're apparently under orders from Celestia herself to conduct... Lifestream stuff, space travel, you know. I think it's using up a lot of our brownie points with them, but they'll point at the professors and the professors will say they're just following orders, so we should stay free from trouble. But she'll definitely arrive before we're back. What I'm more worried about is that we won't be able to be there in person, since we're some of the most mentally-sound of the bunch. But she sounds like an upstanding chick, so hopefully she won't be too hard on Sparky and Felicity and the others while we're gone."

"Right..." Maple took a breath and exhaled.





Time passed, and the student workers finished carrying and refueling, the ship waiting only for its appointed crew and departure time. Ebb wiped his sweaty brow, flopping on a bench near Maple, Starlight and Valey along with several other students. Starlight recognized some of them from Laughter, but had forgotten their names if she ever knew them.

"Whew!" Ebb shook his mane. "I'm going to have to hit the sea extra hard after that one. You'd think less would need doing when our last voyage was cut short."

"That's not how it is," a skinny, athletic mare panted back. "So who are you going with? I heard this voyage is unusually important."

Valey shrugged. "Yeah... Only staff along. We've got Sea Star, Caballeron and that Anemone chick. Pretty sure they're splitting the piloting in eight-hour rotations."

"Better than twelve, am I right?" Ebb winked. "Hot gossip for you: Doctor Lost has started bribing us with less homework to do guard rotations on his office at night."

Starlight blinked. "After the break-in earlier?"

"Yeah." Ebb sat back and folded his forelegs behind his head. "Every single night since then, that sphinx who came with you has come back. He just gets in somehow and starts reading random books without end. He's really hard to catch, and if you take him away, he doesn't fight, but then comes right back the moment you take your eyes off him, and it doesn't stop until dawn. Professor thinks it's a game, but it's almost kind of creepy if you ask me."

"Or sad," the mare Starlight suspected was from Laughter added. "He looks so desperate and sad. And he reads at random, like he doesn't even know what he's looking for."

"Ah bananas." Valey slumped. "Yeah, I dunno what to do for that guy. I don't think anything's gonna fix him."

"What's his story?" the mare asked, voice low.

Valey shrugged. "He used to be a prince. Let his ego run away with him, turned into a real bad guy. Then his hubris caught up and someone he had ruined for sport earlier came and assassinated his kid sister for revenge. Laughed in his face while doing it. Real not-subtle. On the one hoof, he deserved it, but on the other... eh. Just don't feel too sorry for the dude."

Both ponies stared at her in shock. "That kind of thing actually happens?" Ebb asked, eyes wide. "That sounds like it belongs in a dark fairy tale."

"You think anything me or Birdo said while grandstanding was made up?" Valey yawned. "I dunno what he told you on that camping trip, but stuff's messed up sometimes. I didn't learn I could punch out a yak or become capable of it in the first place because I didn't need to."

"No, it's just..." Ebb grimaced. "Doesn't sound like there was much of a good guy there."

The mare nodded. "That sounds like it was two ponies fighting and a victim getting caught between them."

"Yep. There doesn't need to be a good guy." Valey stretched her wings, sitting back. "Ponies don't usually go fwahaha I'm evil! And the ones who do are always up to something else. Pretty much every bad guy I've ever seen has just had someone else dunk on them first and go nuts under the pressure. And if that's most of the villains you see, most of the good guys you see are just stronger-than-average folks like us who want to survive and happen to live in the same city or continent or world that the other punks are threatening. Anyone who puts their life on the line for the sake of doing good alone is cooler than we'll ever be."

Both students looked sobered. "Well, for what it's worth," the mare said, "I wish I had a way to help him."

"He's trying to get his sister back," Starlight interrupted. "And she's gone. You'd need to know about bringing ponies back from the dead to help him. And we know enough about that to know that what he's trying to do just isn't possible."

Those words tasted faintly of a lie on her tongue. She didn't know any way to help Gwendolyn, truly. All the ways she did know, what had been done for Valey and what she was trying to do for Glimmer wouldn't work. But she was the last pony in the world who had a right to call anything impossible.

"Or," Maple said, gently but firmly, "you could help him move on and accept that his sister is gone." She put a hoof on Starlight's shoulder. "I'm not sure if that's your place, because Gazelle is dangerous and you're still young, but it's a lot more likely to help him than searching for ways to bring back the dead."

The mare folded her ears, but Ebb looked confused. "I mean... of course it is. How are you supposed to bring back someone's dead sister?"

"It's about what you want to do, not what you can do," the mare cut in. "He can't, but you can imagine how he wants to."

"You think he's looking through Doctor Lost's archives for a book on necromancy?" Ebb raised an eyebrow. "If I were a deposed prince with dead family, I'd be looking for ways to get my throne back and take revenge."

Valey frowned. "Which is another reason why it's not really healthy for him to be rooting through that library. Especially when nobody even knows all of what's there."

Suddenly, there was a commotion near the door, and nearly a dozen figures filed in: Amber, Shinespark, Felicity and Nyala, Harshwater and Grenada, Gerardo and Slipstream and even Jamjars were there.

"Everyone!" Maple's breath caught in her throat. "You came to see us off?"

"Indeed we did." Gerardo spread his wings and bowed with a benevolent grin. "As grandiose as university life has been these past few days, we just had to bring some of that cheer to send off our friends." Beside him, Slipstream nodded, her cheeks full and rosy.

Valey rubbed her neck. "I mean, it's not like we'll be gone for more than two weeks. We're just out for a while..."

"Two weeks is everything, darling," Felicity complained. "Do you have any idea how much my figure is going to change in that amount of time?"

Amber shoved her shoulder. "You're being silly and you know it."

Felicity giggled. "Heehee... I know. Thanks to having friends like you who will put up with this old bat and her self-esteem woes. I'll make sure to dress us all up just for you on your return!"

"Hey," Harshwater said, stepping forward. "I know I've been absent the last few days, and... no offense, but I really needed to unwind from all of you. Especially after the last month. That said, company is a lot more enjoyable when you have a choice. So when you get back, can we catch up?" She glanced at all three of them. "The offer's open for everyone."

Valey winked. "Sounds like a cool excuse to spend a day on the town."

"When we're done with this," Maple sighed, "I'm going to crave social contact. Don't you worry about that. And we've got the sound stone, too."

Grenada nodded. "I will be keeping the other end. My sister has asked I join her in Generosity Two so we can be in better contact. She offered me the couch, which..." She looked between Shinespark, Amber and Felicity. "I am inclined to accept."

Shinespark stepped up beside her. "We'll be busy, working on Meltdown's armor and repairing the Dream. I'll stay in touch, especially when Princess Celestia arrives. But after how our last talk went, I'm confident I'll be able to handle this. We all have a dream of a shared future in Equestria, and with her blessing we will see it come true." She bowed.

"...Hey." Valey stepped up to her.

Shinespark rose.

"This island is good for you, you know that?" Valey looked across everyone, but her eyes settled on the mare in front of her. "All of you, but especially you. I think you're really gonna be alright."

"I have a lot to be alright for." Shinespark met her eyes, unwavering. "Not as much as I'd like, but a lot more than I could have. So... one day at a time."

"Yeah." Valey nodded. "Two weeks of that. See what you can do in two weeks, but I'm already impressed."

Shinespark averted her eyes. "Sorry I haven't been... myself since you got back. I'm still not, even if you can say I'm doing better."

Valey shrugged. "I mean, whether I can say it or not, it's still true."

"I didn't welcome you the way you deserved," Shinespark said. "So, even if it's just a two-week parting..."

She rushed forward, put her forelegs around Valey's neck in a hug, and touched her cheek with her own, closing her eyes. "See ya," she whispered in Valey's ear.

"Heh." Valey closed her eyes as well. "For a second I thought you were gonna kiss me."

"That's for when you get back," Shinespark replied. "And that's a promise. Both so you'll have something to look forward to, and I'll have something to ensure I feel good enough about myself for. I'll keep my word. You'll see."

Valey returned the hug, squeezing Shinespark's orange body tightly against her own. "Yeah, you bet I will. Stay awesome, girl. You got a lot against you, but you can do this."

"So did we miss the kiss, or was that a fake-out?" a familiar voice called from the entry.

It was Anemone, Caballeron and Sea Star behind her with mildly exasperated looks. "This is going to be entertaining already, I can tell," Caballeron said, managing to make it sound daunting and exciting all at once.

"Our things are already loaded," Sea Star declared, stepping toward the gangplank. "I take it you're having your goodbyes. Come when you're ready. It's your time we have to lose."

"Um..." Nyala took a hesitant step forward, the only one of the farewell party sans Jamjars yet to speak. "I know this is last-minute, but you wouldn't have the food aboard for a fourth, would you?"

Valey blinked. "Wait, you want to come too?"

Nyala nodded. "It's a special place. I want to see if it's anything like the caves in Icereach."

"...Well, if you are really understanding the meaning of two weeks aboard a cramped submarine, I don't see why not..." Caballeron shrugged as he passed by.

Maple looked up from a farewell hug with Amber. "You're joining us?"

"If you'll have me," Nyala said.

Starlight, Maple and Valey all slowly nodded.

"Welp. I guess we're heading out." Valey broke off and headed for the gangplank herself. "See ya in two weeks, everyone. And be sure to call! Something tells me it's gonna be a long, long ride..."